If
You Touch A Turtle, Wash Your Hands!

Keep
your turtle out of your mouth. And remember to wash your hands

Richmond
Times Dispatch, Virginia, March 23, 2000

Reptiles
such as turtles, snakes and lizards are becoming increasingly popu-lar as
pets, but they harbor Salmonella bacteria that can make life miserable for
humans. The bacteria cause salmonellosis, an infection of the human intestinal
tract that usually manifests itself as diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever
and sometimes vomiting. In rare cases, it can be life- threatening.

Even when
owners try to keep their reptiles and cages clean, Salmonella can be on
the animal, on the cage, or on the carpet that the pet crawled across
while the owner was cleaning the cage, experts say. "Any place the
reptile has crawled, he can leave a thin veneer of Salmonella behind,"
said Dr. Fred Angulo, a medical epidemiologist with the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC
recommends that reptiles not be kept in homes that have children younger
than age 5. The animals also should not be kept in preschools and day-care
centers, the CDC says. "Despite educational efforts, some reptile
owners remain unaware that rep-tiles place them and their children at
risk for salmonellosis," the agency said in a recent report.

Before
you turn your iguana into a handbag, how-ever, consider: Lightning kills
more people than reptile-related salmonello-sis. And about 90 percent
of Salmonella infections are caused by improperly cooked food, including
eggs and poultry. Other pets also pose risks. Chicks, ducklings and pet
birds can spread Salmonella. Dogs and cats can bite and scratch. About
24,000 people a year get cat-scratch disease, an in-fection that can cause
swelling and discomfort of the lymph nodes and sometimes fever. About
2,000 are hospitalized. In their waste, puppies and kittens can spread
germs that sicken people, including Salmonella, Campylobacter, Giardia
and Cryptosporidium.

The tip-off,
however, is that these animals will typically be sick with diarrhea when
they are spreading the germs. Reptiles spreading Salmonella can appear
perfectly healthy. Dr. Diane Woolard, an assistant state epidemiologist
with the Virginia Depart-ment of Health, concurred with the CDC that reptiles
should not be kept in homes with small children. Beyond that, the risk
of being around dogs, cats, reptiles and other pets is small if people
remember to wash up and use good sense, she said.

"The
benefits of pet ownership outweigh the risks," she said, "and
I don't want people to be paranoid about their pets." Animals harbor
various bacteria in their digestive tracts - people carry E. coli, for
example. Reptiles typically carry Salmonella. They shed it in their waste.

Reptiles
are responsible for about 93,000 Salmonella illnesses a year, or about
7 percent of the total, the CDC estimates. In its report, the CDC cited
a handful of examples. In one, a 5- month-old Wisconsin girl died in 1998
of an infection apparently caused by the family's pet iguana. In another,
a 6-year-old boy suffered bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramps, vomiting
and fever in Kansas in 1997. His 3-year-old brother also had diarrhea.
Doctors said they were infected with Salmonella, apparently from two pet
corn snakes they handled often.

In Virginia,
the number of reptile-related cases is unknown. "It doesn't happen
much," said Woolard. Asked for examples, Woolard cited four cases
from the mid-'90s. In one, an 8-month-old Amelia County girl and her father
suffered fever and diarrhea that apparently were caused by the family's
pet boa constrictor.

About 3
percent of U.S. house-holds keep reptiles, the CDC estimates. The CDC
says Salmonella, from all sources, infects about 1.4 million people annually.
That's a rough estimate, because most cases go unreported. People simply
suffer diarrhea for a day or two, and no one pinpoints the cause.

The CDC
estimates about 600 people die each year from salmonellosis, with about
40 of those deaths linked to reptiles. By comparison, lightning kills
about 65 people a year, the flu kills about 20,000, and about 40,000 die
in highway crashes.

In Chester-field
County, 44-year-old Lee Meador shares his Monacan Hills home with 75 turtles.
Daughters Jessica, 15, and Catherine, 11, love the reptiles, while wife
Susan tolerates them," Meador said. Meador said he let his girls
handle the turtles when they were young, hut he made sure they cleaned
their hands. "They developed a habit of washing up. That was instilled
in them at an early age," Meador said.

Meador
also made sure his girls didn't put the turtles to their mouths. If children
aren't supervised, he said, "They have a habit of trying to kiss
their pets."

In 30 years,
Meador said, he has twice suffered mild diarrhea that he attributes to
his turtles. He probably allowed the tanks to get dirty and didn't wash
properly, he said. "It was entirely my fault." Meador's pets
include spotted turtles, snapping turtles, box turtles, painted turtles,
mud turtles and stinkpots, among others.

Why all
the turtles? Meador said he is attracted to their personalities--individuals
within the same species can be shy, aggressive or personable-and their
looks. "Some are cute. Some are horribly ugly. Some are prehistoric
looking."

Meador
took issue with the CDC's recommendation to keep reptiles away from small
children. Avoiding infection, he said, "is just a matter of basic,
normal hygiene."

At Rockwood
Nature Center in Chesterfield, naturalist Judy Brown offered a different
take. Brown runs summer programs in which she talks about snakes' role
in nature while children hold docile na-tive serpents such as corn snakes
and king snakes. Brown mentions Salmonella and makes sure the children
wash their hands. But she also tries not to alarm the children or parents.
She is not aware of one case of a reptile causing salmonellosis. "I
just don't think it's a major problem" she said.

But Brown
generally doesn't think people should keep reptiles as pets, out of concern
for the animals. Many wild populations are in decline, and she op-poses
catching wild reptiles for pets. It's OK for a budding young biologist
to keep a reptile, but many people don't understand the cold-blooded ani-mals'
special needs, Brown said. Too often, she said, the creatures are ill-treated
or abandoned.

Despite
the risks that humans and reptiles pose to each other, the two seem destined
to mingle. Brown said her snake program is the most popular at the nature
center, which holds at least one, and sometimes three, one-hour sessions
each summer day. "Even people who don't like snakes are fascinated,"
Brown said. "They're drawn to them."

SALMONELLA
SCOOP Reptiles are just one cause of Salmonella problems. Here
is more informa-tion about the disease and its sources:

What
is salmonellosis? A disease
caused by Salmonella bacteria. It usually affects the intestinal tract
and oc-casionally the bloodstream. Salmonella bacteria can cause food-
poisoning outbreaks.

Where
are Salmonella found?The bacteria
often contaminate raw meats, including chicken, eggs and unpasteurized
milk and cheese products. These bacteria are also found in the feces of
infected persons or infected pets such as reptiles, chicks, dogs and cats.

How
are Salmonella bacteria spread?By eating
contaminated food (particularly undercooked eggs and poultry) or drinking
contaminated water. Infected persons can spread the bacteria by not washing
their hands after going to the bathroom and then handling food that other
people eat. Another way to get this disease is by having direct contact
with feces from an infected person or animal and then transferring the
bacteria to the mouth from the hands.

What
are the symptoms of salmonellosis?The most common
ones are diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, headache and occasionally vomiting.
Blood infections can be quite serious, particularly in the very young
or elderly.

How
soon after exposure do symptoms appear?One to three
days.

How
long can an infected person carry the Salmonella bacteria? Usually, several
days to several weeks after illness. Some people carry the bacteria for
a year or more.

What
is the treatment for salmonellosis?Most people
recover on their own. Persons with diarrhea should drink plenty of fluids.

Source:
Virginia Department of Health Protection

PREVENTIONHere are ways to help
prevent the transmission of Salmonella from pet reptiles to people:

Pet store owners,
veterinarians and pediatricians should inform owners and potential buyers
of reptiles about the risk of infection.

Wash your hands thoroughly
with soap and water after handling reptiles or their cages.

Reptiles should not
be kept in homes inhabited by children younger than age 5 or by people
with immune system disorders.

Reptiles should not
be allowed to roam freely thtoughout the home.

Don't use kitchen
sinks to bathe reptiles or to wash their dishes or cages.

Other
ways to prevent salmonellosis:

Treat raw poultry,
beef and pork as if they were contaminated, and handle them accordingly.

Refrigerate foods
promptly.

Wash cutting boards
and counters immediately after use.

Avoid eating raw or
undercooked poultry arid meats.

Avoid eating raw eggs,
and thoroughly cook all foods made with raw eggs.

Sources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Virginia Department of Health Reprinted from HerpNews.